1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus which is most suitable for use in applying a predetermined image processing to an image signal to transfer it to other equipment through a digital interface.
2. Related Background Art
As the multimedia technology has recently been advanced, there is strong demand to transfer a motion picture image or a still image picked up by an image pick-up device such as a video camera or a camera-in-VTR to a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) for display, and technologies to meet the demand have been developed.
FIG. 15 shows a configuration of a prior art communication system having a camera-in-VTR 1502 connected thereto. Numeral 1501 denotes a portable camera-in-VTR, numeral 1502 denotes a stationary VTR, numeral 1503 denotes a TV, numeral 1504 denotes a digital camera for a PC and numeral 1503 denotes a personal computer (PC). The respective equipments are connected through an analog interface.
Usually, in order to display a motion picture image or a still image, it is necessary to format it in a VGA format, but in a prior art image pick-up device such as a camera-in-VTR 1501, an image signal in an NTSC system or a PAL system is generated. Accordingly, in order to display the motion picture image on the PC, it is necessary to generate a pick-up image of a VGA format by the digital camera 1504 for the PC which is separate from the camera-in-VTR 1501 and transfer it. Namely, when the picked-up image is to be watched by the TV or the PC, a plurality of image pick-up devices which conform to the respective equipments need be provided.
As a method for solving the above problem, it has been proposed to provide, in the PC, means for converting the image signal of the NTSC system or the
system supplied from the image pick-up device such as the camera-in-VTR to the VGA format. In this case, since the image pick-up device and the PC are connected through an analog interface, an image quality is deteriorated.